[CFP] Catalan Literature in English: Translation, Readership and Impact
International Conference on Catalan Literature in English: Translation, Readership and Impact
A conference of the Centre for Catalan Studies
Queen Mary, University of London,
14-15 September 2017
The last forty years have witnessed an unprecedented number of English translations of Catalan literature. From Joanot Martorell’s Tirant lo Blanc to Jaume Cabré’s Confessions, Catalan novels represent a commercial proposition for publishers in Britain and the USA. There are now also English versions of much Catalan poetry and several Catalan plays have made their way onto English-speaking stages.
Can this interest be attributed to the new status of Catalonia or to European fashions? How successful are these translations from a literary and linguistic perspective? What image do they propagate of Catalan identity? And what is not being translated? This conference will attempt to analyse the ways in which translations function and assess the impact of Catalan literature in English. Proposals for papers are welcomed for this meeting of translators, critics, publishers, and readers.
Possible lines of research include:
- Publication policy
- The translator’s experience
- Translation into different regional variants of English
- Translation of the Catalan avant-garde
- Teaching in translation
- Intersemiotic translation
- The internet
- The historiography of translation before 1980
- Retranslation
- Critical reception
- The relevance of translation theory
- Theatrical translation
- The role of subsidies
- Stylistic analysis
- The presence of Catalan literature from outside Catalonia
- Political contexts
A selection of the papers will be published as a book in 2018.
All inquiries should be addressed to: Professor John London, Centre for Catalan Studies, SLLF, Queen Mary, University of London, E1 4NS, UK; j.london@qmul.ac.uk
Length of papers: 30 minutes.
Deadline for submission of abstracts: 30 April 2017.
Guidelines for submission of abstracts: word count: between 200 and 300 words. (Not including bibliography).
Notification of acceptance: 31 May 2017.
